


An Ex Marks the Spot

by LivingInSmilesIsBetter (axm)



Category: Hudson & Rex (TV)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Fluff, F/M, case-fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29553597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axm/pseuds/LivingInSmilesIsBetter
Summary: “Charlie?”His name snapped him back. Not the word, but the voice. A voice from three years in the past. A voice he had been doing just fine not hearing. He faltered, the wind momentarily knocked out of him by a memory of grief so sharp it was like a punch to the gut.
Relationships: Charah, Charlie and Sarah, Sarah Truong/Charlie Hudson, Trulie
Comments: 24
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I expect this to be 5 chapters long. Will endeavour to update weekly, should other writing projects allow.  
> Been reading all your wonderful fics and you've inspired me to come play in this sandpit.

It was damn cold in St John’s in January. It was colder still now that the sun was just a memory and night had rolled in like thick Newfoundland fog. 7pm in the middle of winter. Why couldn’t criminals take this season off? Charlie buttoned the top button of his coat and stuffed his hands deep into his pockets, desperate for something that reminded him of warmth. There was no bad weather, only bad layers – and he may have failed on that layering thing tonight. He was dressed for a work-out, with a thick coat over top. The muted tap of his partner’s footfalls beside him brought a smile to his frozen lips. Even Rex was sporting his booties, because Rex’s comfort and safety came first. Once upon a time his own might have. It was hard to want to think back that far now.   
Under a bridge, usually lit only by the passing cars but now by SJPD vehicles and an ambulance, Charlie did a quick scan of the crime scene. His eyes searched and he soon found who he was looking for. His best friend. Sarah.

“Hey, Charlie,” Sarah said as he approached, a warm smile on her face. “Hey, Rex!” She crouched down and scratched Rex behind an ear with a glove-free hand. “Looking handsome in your boots, Rex.”

Charlie feigned disappointment. “Do I not look handsome in my Reeboks?”

Standing, Sarah let her eyes drop to his shoes for a moment and pursed her lips. “Maybe if they were new, and not the same pair I see you running in at least once a week.” She met his eyes and gave him a playful smile. “Put more effort in like Rex here and maybe you’ll get a scratch behind the ears too.”

The phantom feel of Sarah’s nails scratching lightly through his hair, against his scalp, whispered through him. He clenched his fists in his pockets and tamped down the feelings. “Good to know,” he replied, keeping his voice even, although noticeably deeper. It was just going to be one of those nights, he supposed. Where they flirted shamelessly over a dead body and then went to their separate homes, like nothing inappropriate had happened. These were the nights that warmed him from the inside out when his layers failed. These were the nights that left him just a little sadder after stepping into an empty home. Empty, except for Rex. And Rex's companionship had helped him heal through a messy divorce; and Rex's companionship was the reason he was at the point where he could flirt so openly with his best friend now. He cleared his throat. “So, what have we got?”

“Victim is female, thirty-five to forty years of age, with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. Another woman was with the victim, found holding a weapon. Visual analysis suggests a bullet from the gun would match the size of the wound on the victim. No evidence of a second shot being fired. Joe’s got the suspect over by the ambulance now. She had blood on her, so he’s making sure it’s only that of the victim’s. He mentioned waiting for you to arrive before taking her in.”

It wasn’t protocol, but it also wasn’t unusual for Joe to wait for him. Charlie nodded. “Thanks, Sarah. Let me know if you find out more.”

She nodded. “Always.”

Her word stopped him in his tracks. ‘Always’. Something he had said to her often. A word laced with a hint of something more.

“Charlie?”

His name snapped him back. Not the word this time, but the voice. A voice from three years in the past. A voice he had been doing just fine not hearing. He faltered, the wind momentarily knocked out of him by a memory of grief so sharp it was like a punch to the gut. He didn’t turn. He closed his eyes and gathered himself.

“Charlie?” the voice repeated. “Please help me.”

Opening his eyes, he met Sarah’s concerned ones. She mouthed a ‘you okay?’ at him and he gave a brief nod. But he wasn’t. He wasn’t. Turning, Charlie could only stare at the woman in front of him, words failing him, his voice stuck behind a lump in his throat.

“I sent you a message, Charlie. I’d hoped you would read it before you arrived.”

Charlie stared at Joe. “Yeah, I missed that.” Goddamn it, why was she here? Why wasn’t she in Toronto with the jackass she cheated on him with. Charlie met her red-rimmed eyes, but he wouldn’t let her tear-streaked face get to him. God knows she had tried that kind of emotional manipulation enough times towards the end of their marriage. He had fallen for it a few times back then. He wouldn’t now.  
“What did you do, Julia?”

Behind him, a small ‘oh’ came from Sarah.

Three years ago. Three long years. He had put a wall up so no one could hurt him like she had. These past few months the wall had developed cracks. He had allowed himself to start to feel something for another person again, even if he hadn’t told that person yet. He had almost felt safe enough to let someone new into his heart. Seeing Julia now, hearing her voice, it plugged the cracks and hardened his wall. Defenses up, hackles raised, Charlie turned away from the three sets of eyes on him. “C’mon, Rex,” he said to his dog. “We’ll continue this at the precinct.” He strode towards his car, Rex trotting to keep up. It took everything he had not to let the anger inside him result in a loudly slammed car door.

* * *

Sarah took in the blonde woman handcuffed at Joe’s side. “Julia,” she murmured.

Julia dropped her gaze. Already beaten down by the events of the evening, Charlie and his colleagues’ reactions had been the final blows. “I guess my reputation precedes me.”

“Come on, Julia,” Joe said, guiding her towards his car.

Sarah watched them go, her feet stuck firmly in place by the surprising twist of events. Shaking her head to clear it, she swiftly switched back into forensics mode and began a final sweep of the scene. Whatever had happened, and however this all ended, she would find the evidence and help Charlie close the case – and fast.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unrelated to this fic, and I've said it somewhere else but I'll say it here too BECAUSE I HAVE A NEED, but yo. Fandom. I'm gonna need someone to write shippy filler fic between that Sleeping Beauty couch scene and Charlie coming into work late the next morning. I am willing to beg.
> 
> Red wine is my editing buddy tonight, so excuse any typos.   
> Now, on with the angst...

“You can’t question her, Charlie.”

“No, but I can watch you do it.”

Joe and Charlie stood in the small observation room, watching Julia through the glass as she sat nervously at the table. Her eyes darted around the room like a scared bird, flitting nervously between her hands on the table, the clock, and the mirrored glass. Charlie knew she would give anything to distract herself with her phone while waiting, but that item was currently with Jesse. Text messages, phone calls, it was all being checked. Any semblance of privacy Julia thought she may have had despite all her social media accounts would all disappear tonight. Social media accounts he still refused to have anything to do with. After catching Jesse “just looking” at an ex’s Facebook more than once Charlie was content to have never bothered with any accounts. There was no temptation. No reason to ever look back.

Until tonight.

“Do you think she did it?” Joe asked him.

Charlie shook his head, clearing the memories and the ‘what ifs’. “She’s a cheater, and a liar. But she isn’t a killer.” The only thing she ever killed was their marriage. But he had been a co-conspirator there too.

“Maybe not the Julia you knew back then. But you’ve changed, Charlie. For the better, of course, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t changed in some way too.”

“Yeah,” he replied, his voice low and solemn. “I know.” Charlie glanced at his partner, the dog sitting patiently at his side. “Take Rex in with you?”

“Of course.” Joe didn’t ask why, there was no need. There were traces of evidence on her that, if present, Rex would find before Joe noticed. But, beyond that, Joe suspected it was more because the dog’s presence could be a comfort to the woman in the room.

“Go with Joe, Rex,” Charlie told his partner, like he understood. Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t. But Joe’s quick double tap of his palm to his thigh had the dog following him out the door. Maybe they were all just in tune with each other now. Three years of growing and healing together had resulted in bonds being formed in this precinct like nothing Charlie had ever experienced before, outside of his own family.

Stepping closer to the glass, Charlie watched as Joe entered the room. He saw Julia’s expression falter slightly at the dog, her eyes narrowing, suspicious, curious. But not afraid. Julia had always liked dogs. She had planned to get one once she believed he had settled in to his new life in St John’s. But Charlie had never been very good at settling down. Part of the reason he stilled blamed himself for her infidelity. If only he had been more present, and more willing to accept the house they had lived in as a home. Joe was right, he had changed these past three years. He owned a home now, one he envisioned living in for a long time. A home, with space for Rex, with a guest bedroom, a room that could become a nursery one day. Not that he liked to think that far ahead, but he couldn’t deny this fleeting thought was growing more persistent with each year that passed.

“Tell me what happened tonight, Julia,” Joe said.

From his vantage point, Charlie could see every emotion that flickered through Julia’s eyes. Disbelief and sadness, and, finally, fear. As she spoke and her voice faltered, Charlie hoped for nothing more than to hear the words that proved she had played no part in tonight’s murder.

“I didn’t do it, Joe. I didn’t kill her.”

Joe didn’t correct her on the use of his first name. They had been friends once; they had spent evenings in Joe’s backyard in the summers. Julia and Camilla bonding while Charlie and Joe stood nearby, beers in their hands and meat on the grill. Time and divorce had come between them, but the familiarity remained. “Explain to me how we came to find you standing over a dead woman with a gun in your hand.”

“She texted me,” Julia began, her hands clenched tight together on the tabletop, one thumb nail picking at the other. Her nervous habit. “She was scared. Her ex-boyfriend was threatening her, angry she was dating again. Furious she was moving on from him.” She relaxed her hands to wipe tears from her cheeks, to wipe her nose, and then laced her damp fingers together again. “I told her I’d pick her up. He had ditched her near the bridge after a fight. I got there and…. And….” Her breaths came out ragged. She inhaled shakily, struggling to quell an oncoming anxiety attack. “She was dead, Joe. I picked up the gun. I don’t know why. It just happened. I wasn’t thinking. But I didn’t kill her.”

“Where were you between five and six p.m?”

“At home. Alone.” Fresh tears fell. “Oh God, Joe. No one saw me there. What’s going to happen to me?” Her eyes darted to the glass, like she knew, like she could sense Charlie standing back there. Her eyes silently pleading him to help her. 

Charlie couldn’t take any more. He couldn’t watch this. He sent Joe a quick text to let him know Rex could stay with him for another ten or so minutes, and then exited the observation room and made him way to the forensics labs.

* * *

Charlie knocked before entering, always aware this was Sarah’s space and that announcing his presence when she was deep in concentration avoided an unintentional jump-scare. It had only happened once, but he had regretted it deeply. “Hey, Sarah.”

Sarah looked up from her notes and smiled. “Hey, Charlie. How are you doing?”

He didn’t know how to answer that; being open about his feelings wasn’t really his forte when put on the spot. “Yeah, I’m okay,” he replied, shrugging it off. “You got anything new for me?”

“Yeah, I…” She glanced at the door behind him, like she always did, to acknowledge Rex, and noticed the dog’s absence. “Hey, where’s Rex?”

“He’s with Joe. And Julia.”

“Oh, okay,” Sarah replied. It was unusual for him to leave Rex behind, but she chose to ask no further questions. “The medical examiner is performing the autopsy now, but we have an ID. The victim’s name is Michelle, she’s 36 years old, and died from a single gun-shot wound to the abdomen. The gun found at the scene is still being tested but it’s looking good for the murder weapon. I’ll have more in a few hours.” She stood and turned to him. “How are you doing though. I mean, really? I can’t imagine how you’re feeling right now.”

With her staff busy elsewhere, performing autopsies and running tests, because it was just the two of them in the room, he let his guard down a little. “This is not how I pictured a reunion between Julia and myself to go. Not that I wanted a reunion.” He let out a low sigh and then gave her a crooked, sad smile. “You know, I was finally starting to feel like I’d put those years with her behind me. I’d even started dating again and—” He cut himself off as a sudden, uneasy feeling surged through him. His eyes narrowed. “Wait, what was the victim’s name?” He hadn’t really taken a close look at the body at the scene, not like he usually would. He had been distracted. But he had noticed the strands of curled blonde hair peeking out from beneath the tarp that covered the body. And Sarah had just said….

“Michelle.” She opened the folder beside her computer and checked her notes. “Michelle Bennett.”

Bile rose, burning Charlie’s throat. “The body. Sarah, I need to see the body.”

Sarah saw the color drain from his face, heard the rough quality to his voice. She couldn’t take him in during the autopsy, despite his insistence. But she had photos of the victim’s face on her computer. The urgency in his tone had her reaching for her mouse. “Charlie, here,” she said, gesturing to her screen. Both stood side-by-side as the photo loaded, his upper arm brushing hers, personal space something they had done away with early in their friendship. When the woman’s face took over almost half the screen, fully loaded, she felt her friend shudder against her. “Did you know her?” She met his eyes and they said it all. “Oh, Charlie. I so sorry.”

He nodded. Swallowing past the lump in his throat, he forced the strange random words swirling around in his brain to form something that resembled a sentence. “We dated,” he replied. “Briefly.” Three coffee dates and a failed attempt at dinner at his home, but, before the allergy disaster with Rex, he had thought they’d made a connection. Now all he could do was shake his head in disbelief. “What is going on.”

Sarah's gaze dropped; she saw her best friend’s fingers clenching around the edge of the desk, saw him struggling, and, with no one else around, she did the only thing she could think of – she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a gentle hug. With her chin resting on his shoulder, she promised, “We’ll figure this out, Charlie. We’ll figure it all out.” She would do anything he needed.

She would do anything for him.


	3. Chapter 3

“We have a bigger problem now, Joe.”

From Sarah’s lab, Charlie had headed straight back to Joe’s office. The walk down the long corridors and through the heavy doors had been a blur. The only thing he had been truly aware of had been Sarah’s presence, his friend at his side, matching his long strides. Accompanying him the whole way to the bullpen.  
She hung back now, at Charlie’s desk, running a finger over a toy car, Rex whining softly at her feet, both of them with their eyes trained on the closed office door.

Joe spotted Sarah and carefully closed the blinds. “Which is?”

Charlie had to get it out fast or risk it not coming out at all. “I knew the victim.”

“How?” Joe sat behind his desk, poised to take notes if necessary.

Charlie remained standing, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. “We dated. Briefly.”

“Define ‘briefly’. And elaborate on how long ago this happened.”

“Three months ago, and for just a couple of weeks. A few coffee shop dates, and one failed dinner.”

“Why did it fail?”

“She was allergic to Rex.”

“I see.”

Charlie sighed. “I realize this leaves no chance of me working on this case, but please don’t leave me out of the loop, Joe.”

Pressing record on his phone’s audio app, Joe closed his eyes for a moment, hating what he was about to do. “Charlie, I need to ask you a difficult question.”

“Okay.”

“Where were you between four and six pm tonight?”

“Are you serious?” When Joe didn’t answer, Charlie said, “Joe, really?”

“Answer the question, Charlie.”

“I was at home,” he said, slowly and plainly. Working out in my garage and getting Rex ready for a run.” He shrugged. “He needs booties on nights this cold.”

“Was anyone with you?”

“Joe, come on. I’m not the ex-boyfriend who sent her threatening texts. You know me, Joe.”

“I know I need your phone as evidence.” He held out his hand. “I need to prove your innocence and eliminate you from the suspect pool.”

Charlie sighed, heavier this time. He dug his phone out from the depths of his back pocket, unlocked it, and handed it over. “Fine.”

“I’m sorry, Charlie.”

He appreciated that Joe did truly sound apologetic. “I know.”

“Now go home.” Joe fixed him with a look that left no room for argument. “Go home, get some sleep, and I’ll contact you in the morning.”

Charlie almost laughed. Sleep? Yeah, like that was going to happen. He strode out of the office, gesturing to his partner as he walked. “Rex, come,” he commanded. The dog left Sarah’s side without hesitation and followed behind Charlie. And while he didn’t speak a word to Sarah, the brief eye contact he made with her as he called Rex said everything he couldn’t.

She waited a beat, and then casually exited through the same door he had.

* * *

“I need your help, Sarah,” Charlie said once they were outside and their voices were muted by the falling snow. They stood beside his car, facing one another. “But it will put your job on the line and—”

She silenced him with a raised hand. “That’s never stopped me before. Where are you going?”

“Back to the crime scene.”

“I’m coming with you.”

He nodded and opened the back door for Rex, who jumped in without hesitation. Sarah walked carefully around to the passenger side and slid into the car, grateful to be out of the snow for a short while.

“You think we missed something?”

“I’m going with different eyes. I don’t know what I hope to find. If anything. Something in my gut tells me we did miss something. Something perhaps only Rex can find.”

Because Rex usually did his own walk around at the crime scenes, but tonight he hadn’t. He needed to give the dog a chance. To give Julia a chance.

He couldn’t fathom she had actually done it. But then again, Sarah hadn’t expected her ex-professor to be a murderer. He needed to handle this the way he had told her to handle that case. Not with his emotions. He needed to separate himself from the suspect and the victim.

“As your friend,” Sarah began, her voice soft, just audible over the gentle hum of his car’s engine and the crunch of the tires on the grit, “can I ask about Michelle?”  
  
Charlie’s hands gripped the wheel tighter, but he acquiesced. “You already know most of it. We met at the coffee shop. Had a couple of dates there. We had both previously been married. She never mentioned anything about domestic abuse. Our conversations never quite got that deep. I never mentioned Julia’s name to her, although I suppose it would have been easy to find. Julia didn’t know I was dating. We haven’t spoken since the divorce was finalised.”

“You think it’s possible Michelle sought you out? Or that Julia somehow murdered her in what? A jealous rage.”

“Julia had no reason to be upset. She cheated on me, after all. The divorce was mutual by that point.” He sighed. “Joe took my phone, Sarah. He’s having Jesse check the message and call log. In case I’m the jealous ex-boyfriend who ditched her on the side of the road.”

“Joe knows you’re not,” Sarah reminded him. “He’s just doing his job. None of us could ever even consider such a thing, Charlie. We know you’re a good person.”

He had punched walls though. One wall. The night he had discovered her infidelity. Alone, once she had left, his fist had gone clean through the plaster. Julia knew that. She’d seen his terrible patch job. And now, seen by so many as the detective who liked dogs better than people? He was innocent, but would everyone see that?

“Hey,” Sarah said softly, bringing him back. “We’ve got your back, Charlie. You know that, right?”

The silence hung heavy between them. He didn’t know what he believed anymore.

* * *

She had allowed him the silence he had needed but now, back at the crime scene, under the darkness of night, she spoke. More to herself than to him, to fix the silences. And to keep her from freezing to death at midnight in the middle of winter. “If we find something, you were never here.”

“Just the once,” he agreed.

“Right. You didn’t come back.”

“Right.”

He couldn’t do it. The guilt was building. “Sarah, I think you should—” He was cut off by Rex barking, his partner indicating he had found something. He didn’t finish his thought. He strode off towards Rex, to find the dog pawing at the snow. “What’ve’ya got, buddy?” Charlie dug through the snow with a gloved hand, until he uncovered a black button.

Sarah came up beside him and looked down at the object in his palm. “Not surprised we missed that.” She glanced around. They were a good thirty feet from where the body had been found, and the item was almost frozen by the snow. Even by the time they had arrived at the scene the button would have been well covered by snow. “Look at that, Charlie,” she said, pointing to the ground where the snow had settled lower in one place. “It could be the indentation from someone landing on the snow. There may have been a struggle here.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’m going to take some photos to compare to the ones from earlier.” It was probably nothing, but she had to be sure. She snapped some photos and took measurements of the anomaly with her phone.

Charlie bagged the button and did a quick search with Rex for more. “I think that’s it,” he told Sarah a while later. God, he was cold. The only time he had ever felt colder than this had involved a skating rink and a refrigerator. Sarah shivered beside him. “Let’s get out of here,” he told her.

As they made their way back to his car, he said, “Usually at this point I’d invite you to come back for a beer, but I have a stash of hot chocolate at home for nights like this. If you’re interested?”

“So very interested,” she said, her teeth chattering slightly as she spoke.

* * *

His home was warm. Light flooded the interior as they stepped in and Sarah instantly felt better. She stripped off her jacket, hung it over a chair, and followed Charlie to his kitchen. Rex made it as far as his dog bed before dropping down and curling into its warmth.

It brought a smile to Sarah’s face. “He looks comfy.”

“For now. But the moment we sit on the couch…”

Sarah laughed softly. Charlie was still hurting, still confused, still scared, but his mood had lightened somewhat.

She sat at his kitchen counter while he prepared the hot chocolate. “So, you do cook.”

The first smile all night tugged at Charlie’s lips. “Only for good friends.”

With two mugs of steaming cocoa, they relocated to the couch, both choosing opposite ends of the same sofa. “Whatever you need, Charlie,” Sarah began, her voice soft. “I’m here for you.”

“I appreciate that.” He sipped his cocoa. “I know the evidence will lead you to the truth, but I hope that truth is Julia’s innocence.”

“You think there’s a chance she’s guilty?”

“No. But, like Joe said, people change. Hopefully not so much that they commit murder, but…”

“You’ve changed since I first met you.”

Charlie smiled. “You’ve helped change me.”

Sarah crinkled her nose. “No, I take no responsibility for that. It was all you, and Rex.”

“Mostly Rex then.”

“I think you underestimate yourself, Charlie.” She sipped her drink. “Are you scared?”

He was silent as he considered her words, his own emotions. “Confused, more than anything.”

“Yeah.”

“I haven’t even really spoken with her yet. There’s so much I don’t understand about all this.”

A comfortable silence settled around them. The emotional events of the day catching up with Charlie, the late hour catching up with Sarah. His eyelids were heavy, his blinks becoming slower, longer.

“I should go,” Sarah said having noticed his exhaustion. She placed her mug on the table. “Let you and Rex sleep.”

On the verge of falling asleep, Charlie replied, “Stay.”

The word made Sarah pause. He had a guest room, she knew, and that was what he was meaning, surely, but the way he had said it. His voice so low, so soft, so casual and without fear. And it was what stung about their relationship. He had no clue. He was so utterly oblivious. Every day her feelings for him deepened just a little more, and all he saw when he looked at her was a friend. She loved being his friend. But never being more would always break her heart a little.

“Oh, wow, sorry,” he said, more awake now as the realisation had hit him. Her silence deafening. “I meant the guestroom. Not—” He threw her a sheepish smirk, but it was soon engulfed by sadness. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I understood.” She flashed him a reassuring smile, but even she could tell it hadn’t reached her eyes.

A look of uncertainty flashed through Charlie’s own eyes. “I can drop you home in the morning.”

Oh, she hadn’t said yes yet. “Yeah. Okay. Thanks.”

He stood and cocked his head towards the steps. “Let me show you the rest of my house.”

She hadn’t seen much beyond the living room, kitchen and upstairs washroom. She had seen the steps but not what was down them. It warmed her to be introduced to the more intimate areas of his home. With Rex at their heels, they walked lazily down the steps to the lower level.

“My room,” he said, gesturing to an open door as they passed. “Bathroom. And….” He opened a closed door. “Guest room.”

It was small, but tidy. A queen bed sat in the middle, no extra cushions or anything unnecessary. Just the bed, cleans sheets, two pillows. A small bedside table on either side, and a dresser opposite. A large window looked out onto the twinkling lights of St John’s. “Wow, Charlie,” she breathed out. “That view.”

“There isn’t a bad one from this house.”

“It’s amazing.” She turned, both standing at the threshold, her inside the room, him in the hall. “I just want you to know, I’m here if you need me. If you need anything. I’m here.”

He nodded. “I know. I appreciate that. I don’t think the hardest part has even happened yet.”

He sounded so defeated. Her heart broke for him. “Come here,” she said, opening his arms to him. He stepped into them and she embraced him, sinking into his warmth more than she probably should have.

“We’ve been doing this a lot lately.”

“Yeah, well you’ve looked like you’ve needed a hug a lot lately.” She rubbed her palm between his shoulder blades. With the height difference her chin barely reached his shoulder, but it did. Just.  
His grip on her tightened, his arms pulling her body closer to his until she could feel every muscle beneath his shirt.

“I’m glad we’re friends, Sarah.”

She tried not to let it, but the word ‘friends’ cracked her broken heart even more. “Me too.” _I wish we were more._ Feeling him pull away, out of her arms, she plastered a smile on her face. “Night, Charlie.”

“Night, Sarah.” He turned and stepped into his own room.

Rex looked between the two doors before settling on the space between them, guarding both of his favorite humans.

Sarah smiled and closed the door, but not all the way. She left it ajar so Charlie would know he could come talk to her at any time, and so Rex knew he had a place with her too. They both had places in her heart now.


End file.
